With the BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik fielding as many as four of the party’s Rajya Sabha members in the ensuing lok Sabha and Assembly elections, senior party leaders who have been denied tickets to contest the polls have begun lobbying for their rehabilitation as members of Parliament’s Upper House.
Only one from the BJD, cine actor Anubhav Mohanty, is by now sure to be sent to Rajya Sabha as Patnaik has already made an announcement to this effect.
The senior leaders who hope to fill the other vacant RS berths are former Ministers Prafulla Chandra Ghadai and Kalindi Behera and former leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh and former Minister and former BJP State president Bimbadhar Kuanr, both of whom joined the BJD recently.
Among the RS aspirants are also some sitting lok Sabha members who have been denied tickets to seek re-elections. They are Aska MP Nityananda Pradhan, Koraput MP Jayram Pangi, Jajpur MP Mohan Jena and Keonjhar MP Yoshwant Singh laguri.
This apart, the two senior artists like playback singer Trupti Das and Mihir Das have been taken into the party and they are yet to be given ticket for the coming polls. Both may also hope for RS berths.
The Rajya Sabha members who have been made candidates for the April elections are Dilip Tirkey, Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, Sasahi Bhusan Behera and AU Singh Deo. While Tirkey is in the fray in the Sundergarh lok Sabha seat, Mohapatra has been given ticket for the Ranpur Assembly seat. Both Tirkey and Mohapatra’s term in Rajya Sabha would have ended on April 2, 2018.
Sashi Bhusan Behera, whose Rajya Sabha membership would have expired on July 1, 2016, is now the BJD candidate for the Jayadev Assembly seat.
Sitting Balangir MlA AU Singh Deo, who was elected to Rajya Sabha recently and was yet to be sworn in as an RS member, was recalled and fielded as the party candidate for his Assembly seat again.
Sitting Sukinda MlA Prafulla Ghadai told reporters, “My party leader (Patnaik) has assured me that he will consider my case as a candidate for Rajya Sabha against the possible vacancies.”